


Start Again

by saiditallbefore



Category: Baby-Sitters Club - Ann M. Martin
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Developing Relationship, F/F, Feelings, Super Special 1: Baby-Sitters On Board
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-23
Updated: 2020-07-23
Packaged: 2021-03-04 23:20:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,389
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25474516
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/saiditallbefore/pseuds/saiditallbefore
Summary: Mary Anne dropped everything on the table— she’d put it away before her dad got home— and started reading the postcard.Mary Anne, it began.I’m sorry again for lying to you!  I really just wanted us to be friends— we could have so much fun together!  I hope you can forgive me?  XOXOXO, Alexandra Carmondy
Relationships: Alexandra Carmondy/Mary Anne Spier
Comments: 6
Kudos: 12
Collections: Juletide 2020





	Start Again

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ladyoftintagel](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladyoftintagel/gifts).



> In case you don't remember her, [Alexandra Carmondy](https://babysittersclub.fandom.com/wiki/Alexandra_Carmody) was a character from _Super Special #1: Baby-Sitters On Board!_ She and Mary Anne strike up a brief friendship, which comes to an abrupt end when Mary Anne discovers that Alexandra has been lying about having a Tragic Past. In the book, Alexandra begs Mary Anne to forgive her, to no avail.

Two weeks after Mary Anne and her friends returned from their trip (a cruise in the Caribbean and a trip to Disney World!), she got a postcard in the mail. It had a picture of Cinderella’s castle at Disney World on it, and when she flipped it over, the back was covered in cramped handwriting. It didn’t look familiar to her, and she couldn’t imagine who would have sent it to her.

She was burning with curiosity, and she almost read it right there, standing on the sidewalk outside of her house. But she was still carrying her Kid-Kit from her latest babysitting job, and her hands were full of the rest of the mail, so she brought the postcard inside.

Mary Anne dropped everything on the table— she’d put it away before her dad got home— and started reading the postcard. 

_Mary Anne_ , it began. _I’m sorry again for lying to you! I really just wanted us to be friends— we could have so much fun together! I hope you can forgive me? XOXOXO, Alexandra Carmondy_

Below her signature was a phone number with a Connecticut area code. 

Inexplicably furious, Mary Anne ran to the kitchen telephone and dialed the number. 

“Carmondy residence, this is Alex,” a familiar voice said.

Kristy probably would have just demanded to know how Alex had gotten her address. But Mary Anne couldn’t imagine opening a phone conversation impolitely.

“This is Mary Anne. Did you—”

“Mary Anne!” Alex sounded delighted. “You got my postcard?”

“How did you get my address?” Mary Anne demanded.

“I got Timothy to ask your friend Claudia,” Alex said. Timothy, Mary Anne remembered, was the Alex’s brother— and Claudia’s secret admirer from the cruise.

Mary Anne made a mental note to have a word with Claudia.

“Listen,” Alex continued. “When we’re at home, we only live a few towns over from you. How cool is that? I was thinking that maybe we could meet up at the Washington Mall, or—”

Mary Anne couldn’t believe her nerve! “I don’t want to be friends with a liar. _Goodbye_.” Mary Anne slammed the phone into its cradle. It wasn’t as satisfying as she had imagined.

* * *

Mary Anne wasn’t sure why she kept the postcard. But when she was cleaning her room a week and a half later, she found that it had slid between her desk and the wall. One of the corners had gotten bent.

It confused her. _Alexandra_ confused her. Why had she gone to all of the trouble of sending a postcard to apologize _again_ , after she’d spent a whole day at Disney World following Mary Anne around trying to apologize.

It was so hard to know if she could trust anything Alexandra said, when she’d started off lying for the sake of lying. 

Mary Anne took the postcard downstairs with her to the kitchen phone, and called Alexandra’s number again.

“Carmondy residence, this is Timothy.”

Mary Anne pushed away her anxiety. “I’d like to talk to Alexandra.” 

“Alex! Phone for you!” Timothy bellowed for his sister. Mary Anne almost laughed at how normal it was; she would never have guessed that they were the children of famous musicians.

There were a few moments of indistinct noise as the phone was handed over, and then Alexandra spoke.

“Hello?”

“Alexandra,” Mary Anne said. She paused, not entirely sure what she wanted to say next.

“Mary Anne! You called back!” 

“I don’t understand what you _want_ ,” Mary Anne cried. Why did Alexandra have to be so confusing?

“I want us to be _friends_ ,” Alex said. “I know I went about it all wrong, but can’t we try again?”

Mary Anne considered it. “I’d like to. But only if you don’t lie to me anymore.”

“I won’t,” Alex said. “I promise.”

* * *

After that, phone calls with Alex became a regular event. Now that she wasn’t trying to pretend she was an orphaned heiress with a tragic past, Alex was much less intimidating— but she was still very interesting. Mary Anne worried that her stories about the kids that she babysat for just weren’t as cool as the stories Alexandra could tell about travelling while on tour with her parents, but Alex never seemed bored. In fact, she started asking for stories about some of Mary Anne’s regular clients— the Perkins kids were always a good source for that.

It turned out that Alex was only a little more than a year older than Mary Anne, and she’d be starting high school in the fall, just as Mary Anne was starting eighth grade.

“Are you nervous?” Mary Anne asked. It made her nervous just to _think_ about starting high school!

“Why would I be nervous?” Alexandra laughed, but it sounded forced.

Mary Anne frowned. “ _Alex_.”

“I don’t know,” Alex said. “It’s stupid to be nervous. Right?”

Mary Anne fidgeted with the phone cord. “Not really. I mean— It would make me nervous. I’m already worried about school this year, and I’m going back to middle school with all my friends.”

Alex was quiet for a minute. “Thanks,” she said. Then, “We should go back-to-school shopping. I bet my mom will let us use her credit card.”

* * *

It took a lot of persuasion, and a short conversation on the phone with Alex’s parents, but Mary Anne’s dad agreed to drive her to the Washington Mall so she could go back-to-school shopping with Alex.

The mall was crowded, but Mary Anne still easily spotted Alexandra. She was dressed in a brightly-patterned sundress and jean jacket, with her masses of dark, wavy hair pushed back with a matching headband. As soon as she spotted Mary Anne, she waved excitedly.

There were a few dozen people still separating them, but Alexandra elbowed her way through them— much more aggressively than Mary Anne would have felt comfortable with— and immediately hugged her.

Any leftover anger Mary Anne had felt at Alex disappeared, just like that. 

Alex pulled away from her, and Mary Anne ducked her head and smiled, suddenly feeling shy. 

“Come on,” Alexandra said. “I saw a really cute top and I need to try it on.” She grabbed Mary Anne’s wrist, and pulled her along. 

Spending time with Alex in person was more fun than Mary Anne had expected. On the cruise and at Disney World, Mary Anne had been worried about impressing Alexandra, and then she’d been mad at her. Now, it was hard to be impressed when she knew that Alex was afraid of thunderstorms and had a collection of kitschy teddy bears her parents had bought her from places they visited on tour.

After they’d each bought a handful of cute new tops, and Alexandra had convinced Mary Anne to buy a few new hairclips to match, they sat down in the food court and sipped on their smoothies from Orange Julius.

“It’s too bad that you don’t live in Stoneybrook,” Mary Anne said. 

“We’ll just have to do this again soon!” Alex said with a bright smile. Mary Anne hadn’t noticed before that she had dimples.

For no reason that she could tell, Mary Anne could feel herself blushing. She looked away, and changed the subject.

“My dad’s going to be here in a few minutes,” Mary Anne said, checking her watch. “I should go meet him.”

“I’ll come with you.” Alex hooked her arm through Mary Anne’s, and they walked companionably toward the mall entrance. They stood on the sidewalk just outside, and Mary Anne could just make out the shape of her dad’s car in the parking lot.

Mary Anne hugged Alexandra quickly. After a minute, the two of them pulled apart. Mary Anne was just about to leave, but Alex grabbed her arm and pulled her back and kissed her quickly.

Mary Anne pressed her hand to her lips, surprised.

Alexandra ducked her head, letting her dark hair swing into her face. If she were anyone else, Mary Anne might have guessed that she was embarrassed.

Mary Anne couldn’t say that the idea of kissing Alexandra had occurred to her before. But now that Alexandra had already done it once, she wanted it to happen again. She didn’t want Alex to be embarrassed.

She pushed Alexandra’s hair back— it was really soft— and brushed her lips against Alexandra’s.

Alexandra smiled at her.

“I’ll call you later!” Mary Anne said. 


End file.
